Despite loss, Texans-Patriots rating sets local season high

Plenty of Houstonians tuned in to see Tom Brady and the Patriots take it to J.J. Watt and the Texans. (Brett Coomer/Chronicle)

In keeping with our fascination for freeway chases and other endeavors that mix disaster with entertainment, the Texans’ blowout loss to the Patriots on Monday night produced the largest of the team’s four prime-time audiences this season. Go figure.

The “Monday Night Football” game had a combined Nielsen rating of 34.6 in Houston, producing an average audience of 766,614 of Houston’s 2.2 million TV households. That includes a 12.9 rating on ESPN and 21.7 on KHOU (Channel 11). The game had a combined 39.1 rating in Boston and a national overnight of 10.0.

Monday night’s number was slightly higher than the combined 34.4 rating for the Texans’ earlier Monday night win over the Jets and higher than their Sunday night win over the Bears (32.9) and their loss to the Packers (32.6), both on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” on KPRC (Channel 2).